Planning A House in Hills

                                           It is imperative to plan and design houses or structures in hill areas by taking into consideration.

i) profile or slope of land

ii) orientation or direction/path of the Sun

iii) wind direction

iv) strata 

HILL CUTTING & DEBRIS MANAGEMENT

As per the matter of practice, safety and regulations maximum hill cutting of 3.50 meters only    should be undertaken. Cutting beyond this figure should be done only in steps, each step to be retained by way of constructing an R.C.C. or stone wall. 

Following considerations should be kept in mind:-

•Generally cutting should be equal to  filling i.e. an economical section should be used. however as far as possible internal floors should not be constructed in filling.

•Weep holes should be left in stone as well as an R.C.C. wall at suitable spacing for dissipation of energy and sub- soil water/ moisture.

•Dry area should be left in between retaining wall and masonry wall for preventing dampness. This area should be kept open on both ends and not more than 25% (one-fourth) of it should be covered on the top for  access/ bridges.

•Retaining walls of small heights should be constructed in stone while walls of bigger heights should invariably be raised in R.C.C.

FEW EXAMPLES ON HILL CUTTING

COLLAPSE OF BUILDINGS IN   SOLAN TOWN

Common causes for the collapse of buildings in Solan and Shimla towns

•Most of these buildings are located on the valley sides of roads.

•The sites in question are more or less nallah formations.

•Majority of the buildings are multi storeyed structures.

•Improper site development.

•Steep slopes
•Poor drainage.
•Majority of the buildings fell during rainy season.

•Extreme hurry in the execution of these projects.

•Without proper structural /architectural design and expert supervision, use of substandard materials, poor construction, lack of proper curing and mixing of concrete etc. etc.

Causes for the collapse of the building of Shri R.K.Chopra, Dehunghat, Solan, Himachal Pradesh

•Site development not done properly. Front columns were not closed with retaining structures.

•Poor drainage accompanied with rainfall was the main cause.

Liquefaction of soil

 •This is the biggest cause of failure of structures.

•Another example is of 5-storeyed building that collapsed in Lakshmi Nagar, Delhi. It is said that 

38 other buildings too are in water logged site around this structure. Sub- soil water in

water logged areas makes strata act as fluid thus behaving like sand or marshy land

•In earthquakes this is the biggest cause of collapse of structure. 

  •In dense areas of Shimla, Solan etc. drainage is poor. Though water gets disappeared due to slope but it finds its way downwards. This situation is very dangerous.



SLOPING ROOF

SLOPING ROOF HAS THE
FOLLOWING  ADVANTAGES:-

•It prevents seepage of water by way of rainfall and snowfall.

•It gives a hilly or Himalayan touch and top to the structure.

•It is very light as compared to an R.C.C roof. Thus it is ideal   from seismic point of view 

as the upper storey should be lighter  in weight than the lower storey/ storeys.

•It matches with the shape of mountains/ hills in the background  and also resembles 

shape of conical trees.

•It is cheaper in the overall context including cost of erection, materials and maintenance

vis-a -vis- an  R.C.C flat roof in the long run.

•It curbs the tendency to create additional accommodation  or storey.

•It is also recommended as per the concepts of Vastu-Shastra since it  is presumed to help reduce tensions and increase human life span.

RAIN WATER HARVESTING

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Why rain water harvesting?

•Problem of water shortage becomes so acute during summers that it affects the day to day life to a great extent.

•Experts believe that a variety of factors like misuse and mismanagement of water 

resources alongwith increase in pollution of surface resources –rivers & 

encroachment of ponds & lakes are responsible for scarcity water in the hill state.

•The increasing pollution of ground water & other related factors is contributing to 

drying of water resources and dip in water table across various parts of the state 

which is a matter of concern.  

  •Besides this, gradual decrease in rainfall & snowfall  every year is also leading to 

shortage of water in various areas of the state.

THE RAIN WATER STORAGE 

TANK HAS   FOLLOWING 

ADVANTAGES:-

•It will help to prevent rain water from flowing down 

suddenly, thus causing soil erosion & destruction.

•It will help storage of rain water (which is the purest form 

of water) to be used later for various domestic or other 

purposes.ر
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